Rabih Kayrouz’s love of art infuses each collection. Recently, the designer has been spending time at his house near Arles welcoming guests to intimate events around the city’s annual photography festival.
That relaxed, summery atmosphere carried through to this collection. The couturier envisioned it for a woman waiting for her lover, confident and at ease. That sense materialized in several pieces that wrapped the body like an embrace, such as single piece of embroidered check that created a simple column silhouette, pleated at the back for a dramatic, voluminous train. The wrapping effect made for an unusual neckline on many pieces, with some reading as asymmetrical.
The collection took a poetic turn in a sheer net overlay, embroidered with Baudelaire’s “Le Beau Navire.” Kayrouz wanted to reframe the idea of a T-shirt. The piece can be thrown over a gown or a pantsuit as an accessory with quotidian nonchalance. Others were embellished with crystals.
“Le smoking” was reinterpreted through the lens of the French Navy’s traditional vareuse, for a tunic top and tux combination, with a variation in a longer gown for cocktail-hour ease. He also struck a balance with pairings in a cotton button-down and a gathered-waist sequined skirt.
Elsewhere, he explored outerwear in a series of safari-like blazers and an airy, open-back trench topped with a cape. Kayrouz worked with canvas, cotton and silk shantung for structure on suiting destined for travel.
“I wanted to work with very preppy, regular materials, and to imagine them almost as a man’s suit,” he said of the inspiration. Other outerwear was tied together with ribbon at the shoulders, morphing the pieces from jacket to cape for fluid movement.
The simple fabrics and shapes belie his twists on construction, with open backs hidden by capes and off the shoulder gowns defying gravity.
